Music in Early Childhood

 

(ADDitude, 2021)

What is the PURPOSE of music in ECE?

When looking into music in Early childhood settings, particularly children aged 3-5 years, we need to understand the balance between the practice of intentional teaching (Belonging, being & becoming, 2009) and allowing children's interests to form the lesson. Acker et al. (Acker, A., Nyland, B., & Deans, J., 2011) argue that children require intentional teaching in order to "enhance children's musical expression". In addition, they also express the role that intentional teaching plays, namely the need to provide children with an expanded view of the music. This is apparent when teaching children music through teaching the child the different roles that create music, such as the performer/s, recording agents, and conductors (Acker, A., Nyland, B., & Deans, J., 2011), also looking at the locations that can be used; recording studios, concert halls, and music festivals. 

Providing children with this information can create opportunities for their understanding of music to be broadened.

When practically teaching children musical skills and knowledge, we need to be mindful of the appropriate developmental areas for their age. For instance, teaching multiple children aged 3 can prove difficult if written music was being taught, however engaging the children in a practical lesson about pitch while using various instruments and items around the room could be more successful. 

The role of music in early childhood is almost a holistic developmental skill as it requires children to activate their cognitive development, fundamental movement skills, and awareness of others. 

How can we ASSESS this?

Assessment in early childhood is a less formal approach than primary aged learning, however educators are still required to provide children (and parents) with feedback about how their developmental areas are progressing. The main way to assess children's learning in early childhood education, is to conduct observations and record what the child does throughout the activity, then look at the developmental areas they have utilised and how effectively they have used these. The Early Years Learning Framework (Belonging, being & becoming, 2009) and Developmental Milestones (Developmental milestones and the Early Years Learning Framework and the National Quality Standards, n.d.) are two essential tools for educators to utilise when assessing and planning children's learning.

As educators, some aspects we can assess are:

• can the child notice the main bet in the music?
• can the child manipulate objects in order to create sound?
• does the child follow along with nursery rhymes and simple rhythms?
• was the child showing any physical cues of learning?

References

  Acker, A., Nyland, B., & Deans, J. (2011). Young children and music : participatory learning and intentional teaching.         Victorian Journal of Music Education, 1, 13–19.

ADDitude. (2021). [Image]. Retrieved 13 September 2021, from https://www.additudemag.com/study-music-to-                focus-the-adhd-brain/.

Australian Government Department of Education, Employment and Workplace Relations for the Council of                         Australian Governments. (2009). Belonging, being & becoming.

Developmental milestones and the Early Years Learning Framework and the National Quality Standards.